Either you love them or you hate them, netbooks. While Microsoft bumps around in the dark trying to find the light with Windows 7 starter edition, Moblin is taking two steps forward. Developed by Intel, Moblin is a linux based operating system specifically designed for netbooks. What started out as a horrid looking proof of concept has now bloomed into a workable, and fairly awesome netbook based OS.
Screenshot Credit: osattack.com
Covered by Paul Foty of OS Attack extensively, Moblin has gotten its first distributor. Linpus, an OS used on many of the Acer Aspire One netbooks, is now working on a Moblin based distribution called the LinpusLinux Lite 2. So what exactly makes Moblin so dang special?
Well for starters it is backed by Intel, giving Moblin a significantally higher chance of going mainstream than the Ubuntu Remix. Moblin is also completely focused on netbooks and has designed a very intuitive interface on a small formed computer. I have used it personally on one of my friends Acer Aspire One’s and I must say I was pleasantly surprised by its amazing boot time and interface that made basic tasks pleasant to do. It doesn’t hurt that Moblin is also open source, which I am sure all Linux die-hards will surely love.
There is one slight issue that needs to be brought up though, and that is Microsoft’s rumored deals with Intel and Windows 7 starter edition to limit netbook specifications, namely screen size. With Intel and Microsoft being such buds, you have to wonder if Moblin will truly get anywhere. Let us hope so, because Microsoft definitely isn’t adding anything to netbooks with there own attempt at the netbook market.
As for me, I will be following OS Attack for the latest and greatest on Moblin. It is truly the best netbook focus OS I have used thus far and to see it go mainstream would be beneficial for us all. Moblin developers, keep doing what you are doing, cause you’re doing it well.
Disclaimer: I wrote a guest post on OS Attack a while back. I like Paul Foty, I am biased and linked to him a lot. Didn’t feel like taking the time to find other sites covering Moblin when Paul already had it all.
